Quiet Restraint
by jhessyemon
Summary: Post Serenity. The verse has been in a rebellious uproar since the transmission of the Alliance's deception. Serenity and her crew have a lucrative mission: a new passenger, Tiegan Amrinson. There's more to him than any of the crew imagined. Zoe/OC
1. Prologue

A/N:This is my first Firefly fanfiction. I hope that you like the intro thus far. I want to say that their is a spoiler in here if you have not seen the movie (You Must See it, So good!). So if you like surprise, don't read until you've seen Serenity. Please leave reviews. Also I don't own Firefly/Serenity and I think Joss Whedon is flippin shiny! Without further ado, I present unto you all Child of Alliance.

**Prologue**

The reflective blue skies of New Melbourne mirrored the oceanic dominated planet with zestful communities in the clear. Inhabitants of the planet resided in the Red Sun sector of the verse. The day, like any other progressed well. In one of the more rural colonies intact on the planet, a middle-aged woman would be parted from her son once again. The adventure begins now…

"Mum! I've gotta go! The ship is gonna jet soon!" The son yelled in a soft Australian accent from the doorway. He was clad in his school's issued blue uniform, his stance appearing anxious for returning fourth year student.

A very proud mother rummaging in the rear section of her house made her son impatient. She emerged. "Hold your horses there, Tieg! It's not every cycle of your school I get to see my 'spring. Let me get a capture of this."

The mother placed the capture photo device on a nearby surface, grabbing her son as it flashed a picture of Tieg and her. Instantly, he grabbed his knapsack off the front porch set to make his exit. Outside the ship's occupants were whisking him to hurry up.

"They're not bloody patient any longer, mum. I gonna be the object of constant taunting now." He indicated to her pointing at the ship.

"Cheers son. Be on your merry, baby darling." He did, feeling bad though to how he treated the most important woman in his existence. Tieg quickly turned back giving his mother a firm hug.

"Love ya lots, Mum. I'll see ya a wave when I port down on Hancock." Tieg smiled grandly at her and sprinted to his transport.

She acknowledged him with a nod, placing a hand up to block the angle from the blinding light of the sun. Her Tiegan, now 20 years of age, would soon to be a graduate of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. She watched with pride, his silhouette meshing in with the sun as he boarded the ship. From the previous time Tiegan visited her, his dreadlocks were much shorter and his skin appeared a tad darker than lighter hue of his mocha skin. The ship lifted off and once again her 'baby darling' left her on her lonesome.

"Why your son's lookin' better everyday Maardi Amrinson." Maardi turned to find her neighbor, Heilen King, speaking to her. "I can't believe he's so tall now. Almost like a eucalyptus."

"I only git to seem 'em once in an orbit. Twice if the verse allows." Maardi replied, bringing her hand down from her forehead for a better view of Heilen.

Heilen strode into Maardi's yard. "Hey Maardi, you wouldn't mind if I use your capture file? Manny Park caught a huge sturgeon. Mine's in the drift, if ya stand under."

"Of course. Follow me." Maardi said politely as they went into her house. "I'll have to give ya the spare. There's a bunch of files on main one of Tieg I want to see today."

Maardi went in search of the spare capture file. Heilen, known for her meddlesome personality couldn't keep herself still with all the unfamiliar items in Maardi's home. Maardi was no longer in her line of sight, so she started to snoop. Heilen heard a weird noise, the source she found in wave message transmitter.

_I don't have on eof these in my house. How does Maardi have one?_

She pressed a green button on the transmitter, and hologram of a young Caucasian woman began to speak: "These are just a few of the images we've recorded. And as you can see… it isn't want we thought."

Heilen saw some of the images and their disturbing nature of people dead on the streets and in work places.

"Maardi!" Heilen yelled. "Come and see this."

Maardi didn't find the capture and complied with Heilen's urgent request.

"It's the Pax. The G-Paxilon Hydrochlorate that we added to the air processors. It was supposed to calm the population, weed out aggression. Well it works. The people here stopped fighting. And then they stopped everything else. They stopped going to work…they stopped breeding, talking eating. There's a million people here and they all just let themselves die." The woman was startled by the sound of crashing in the background, the similar effect on Maardi and Heilen.

The woman gasped and continued. "I have to be quick. About a tenth of a percent of the population had the opposite reaction to the Pax. The aggressor response increased beyond madness. They have become…. Well, they've killed most of us. And not just killed…they've done things." Heilen placed a hand over her mouth at the unbelievable catastrophe she was witnessing. Although, she still had no idea what the woman seemed to be pointing out.

"I won't live to report this, but people have to know. We meant it for the best… to make people safer."

To Maardi and Heilen's horror, Reavers came into the hologram attacking the woman, her screams resonant. Maardi turned it off and then looked at Heilen.

Heilien's eyes were in the state of shock; her body language adhered to her present state.

"Oh my God, Maardi, what in the verse was that!" Heilen exclaimed. "Who sent that to you?"

"I-I don't know." Maardi replied, only a little shaken.

"I've got to tell the community about this! Reavers actually exist!" Heilen dashed out of the house.

Maardi gripped onto the counter where her capture file lied. To say she was in shock hauled in an overstatement.

_Reavers Finally, everyone will know about the reavers_

She smiled for a second. "The Alliance has a new rebellion upon them."

Her grin diminished when it dwelled on her. Maardi reached down the yellow blouse she wore pulling out a black stringed necklace with a yellow circle emblem, peering at it with long blank stare.

_I wonder how long I have now._


	2. Reminiscent

A/N: Just wanted to say, thanks for the reviews! I know the necklace is a little puzzling but that's the intention. You guys rock! Hope you like the chapter!

**Reminiscent**

The dinosaurs on the control board shook a little as the firefly class transport, Serenity, flew through turbulence. River Tam, keeper of the Alliance's deepest secrets guided the ship she loved. To her left, Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds copiloted the ship he loved even more.

"Take her easy through, River." Mal said, a space rock itched past the side of Serenity. River let him have the "really, are you serious face" she'd given to Zoe on the Reaver-interrupted bank heist. They were almost through, when Jayne came into the cockpit, his arm in a sling again.

"Hey Mal, Kaylee's speakin some mess about the primary buffer panel comin' loose again. The ship needs another one pronto or somethin."

"Gorammit!" Mal yelled Jayne sure knew a hell of a time to deliver such bad news. "Tell her to just deal with it best she can. We gotta survive through this space storm."

And a storm is sure well was, space rocks and all. Mal looked over to River, noting how concentrated she'd become for the riveting task at hand. She'd certainly gained an advanced aptitude for piloting since they left Mr. Universe's orbit, some time ago. Soon, the rumbling halted and they were through the worst of it.

Mal sighed. All the years since the Unification War prepared him for unanticipated events. So when River quite alarmingly informed him of the rough space weather, he was ready as ever. He turned to see the seat behind River had just been vacated.

Zoe. She was there only when required. Spending less time in cockpit where she witnessed the travesty of Wash's death. It seemed to be the most efficient method for her moving on. Almost nine months had passed since the occurrence, and everyday Zoe would present a hollow exterior of herself to her fellow crew members.

Mal remembered the expression on Zoe's face when Wash was killed and it haunted him for a while. The hopelessness vibe she bared before he sent out the Miranda wave secretly unnerved Mal, which didn't happen often. He wondered when Zoe would detach herself from the fact she couldn't have saved Wash, and come back to the reality that she needed to go on living her life despite the everlasting hurt.

************

Zoe Washburne pondered the same lying in the middle of her bed, delicately running a hand over Wash's old red Hawaiian shirt.

_I should have saved him._

She rubbed her eyes frustrated by one of the many moments she experienced on a regular basis. Damnit, she hated the Reavers with a passion, they killed her zhàngfu [1], and most of the time she deciphered if she should go with him. Although Zoe contemplated self-slaughter, she thought about what Wash would think of her, if she saw him on the other side of the verse, indeed if there was one.

Escaping such a mind set, she decided she needed to be occupied with some chore on Serenity. Moping around her room wouldn't help out at all. Grabbing her Mare's Leg [2], she pulled down the ladder to climb out of the room. She headed to the centralized cargo area per the main bridge. She didn't hear (more like ignored) Mal calling her from the cockpit.

"Zoe, hold up." Mal called after her.

"Sir?" Zoe's shoulders dropped a little, her back to Mal.

"You couldn't wait till all went settled to leave your post?" Mal crossed his arms and walked in front of her, awaiting her response.

"My apologies, sir. Just thought with River behind the wheel now that I wasn't needed the whole time." She replied, not looking into his eyes.

Mal gained the instinctual feeling that Zoe purposefully ostracized herself to distance her ship duties from personal issues. He had to address it.

"You ain't never left your post before. I remember even you taught me to stay put and quiet til the job was done." Mal paused to see if she had something to say, which of course surprised him when she didn't.

"Zoe, ever since the transmission of the Miranda wave, you've been less…." How would he put it? "… here."

That hit a sour note with Zoe. "What are you implyin' sir? That I ain't capable of doin my job as first mate?"

Mal kept his intention straightforward. "It's not like we don't know you're hurtin, Zoe. We lost Wash too. This whole hidin' your feelings ain't helpin you live. You gotta make good out here in the black. You above all the crew know that. It's-"

Zoe cut him off. "Sir," she sighed, deciding not to go into the subject further. "There's cargo needin to go through inventory. It's not happenin on its own."

Mal learned not to pry to deep into Zoe's affairs when she gave him a certain look, the one right now. It's the one where Zoe's face appeared entirely blank of emotion.

"Alright," Mal conceded, "Be on your merry."

Zoe carefully went down the stairs to the storage bay and pulled out a metal trunk from a recent trading job the crew had just completed. It was for some thugs on a planet called Huang Lang, a border planet in the Red Sun sector. The jobs they were minimally handed now had to be small due the heavier radar from Alliance cruisers.

She examined how little they received for the job. Their proprietors were pretty cheap to hawk over the payment. Zoe smirked a little remembering how egotistical Jayne became in the confrontation, resulting in him getting shot again. Well, he deserved it for not following Mal's order to keep his trap shut. The payment ended up being canned food that would expire soon and 65 platinum that would just get Serenity by on a full tank of fuel.

Zoe murmured. "The price of bein heroes. Instead Wash was killed." Zoe closed the big trunk and retrieved another one a bit less in size to start sorting.

_In the pilot room…._

Kaywinnit Lee Frye, better known as Kaylee conversed with Simon, River and Mal over the recent storm.

"Did ya see it comin' River?" Kaylee asked humorously.

"There's a phenomenal agglomeration of things out there. I only wish to be at the center." River stated then turned back to the controls.

Mal and Kaylee peered over to Simon who translated River Tam linguistics.

"That's River's way of saying yes." River gave him a stale expression. Everyone laughed.

"So how's my primary buffer panel fairin?" Mal asked, changing the subject.

"Well, it's not in fair condition if that's what you're aimin at Cap." Kaylee chewed on the bottom of her lip and shrugged her shoulders. Simon thought she looked eternally cute, Mal on the other hand didn't buy into her puppy face one second.

All of sudden River shouted, "Wave signal comin!."

The rest turned their attention to the screen, knowing that the wave was on its way. If River said something's going to happen, you'd most likely wanted to listen.

A few moments later, it did come on. A short, thin brown skinned woman appeared on the screen.

"How'd you get this frequency?" Mal questioned the woman.

The woman smiled. "I know much more about this ship's frequency than I care to admit, Mr. Reynolds, even with your Nav Sac and Pulse Beacon removed."

The woman's revelation of Serenity's jettisoned tracking parts had Mal stunned.

"How do you know-?" Mal started.

"Mr. Reynolds, I am not an affiliate of the Alliance, nor am I an old woman operative. You have nothing to fear. I just have a job that requires the expertise of your crew."

Mal raised an eyebrow and looked at River who seemed intrigued by the woman's confidence.

"What's the payment?" Mal asked to sound a bit intimidating.

"I know that you need a job. And, it will be lucrative."

"That a promise?"

"Promises are temporary. Guarantees are reassuring." She replied authentically.

Mal hoped this was a guarantee. River tapped him indicating the woman's world.

"New Melbourne, I see? Not too far from our current position. We'll make landfall in a short while."

"I'll be waiting." Then the woman dissipated off the screen.

Mal felt the tension in the room. "Go ahead and make your peace."

Simon actually spoke first. "Well, the woman knew the status of the ship before our Miranda journey, so that's a little freaky to me."

Kaylee made an addendum. "Captain, he has a point. We're attemptin to keep under the radar right? And this so called ordinary old woman on a near by planet has a job for us. Sounds a little spooky to me too."

_They grew a brain together. Had to since the Reaver Alliance War. _ Mal smiled at the aspect that Kaylee was no longer naïve as she used to be. She'd matured some.

"What you conjurin, albatross?"

River looked deeply into the black of the screen.

"We've all been lost in the woods before, what's another adventure?" River clasped her fingers together, giving them a cute little girl smile cocking her head to right side.

* * *

The third chapter is comin round the corner! Yee-HAW

[1]-zhàngfu-husband

[2]-Mare's Leg is Zoe's gun/weapon of choice

jhessyemon ;)


End file.
